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Suggestions please,


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It's been a number of years since I built a model plane, but I'm about to start on building a 1/48 Hasegawa F-18 into a CF-18 and have a couple of questions.

1- When it comes to assembling the cockpit, would it be better to prime the interior before applying colours to it?

2- Panel shading. Never done this before. Is it best to practice on another work piece before hand? I do have an airbrush...Badger 105 Patriot, Compressor and so on. I do have Tamiya, Testor MM Acrylics, Vallejo Model Air for paints.

Thanks,

Doug

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1. I prime cockpits it they are made of resin, contain photo-etched parts, or because of color issues with the plastic.

2. If you are trying any new technique, try it on a junker model or some scrap plastic. Personally, I have never pre-shaded anything. That doesn't mean that I

won't ever try it, but if I do it will be on a kit that I have lying around for practicing new techniques. Go to a model show or pick up a model at a store

for cheap. I have a few such kits lying around just for practicing on or for giving to younger kids that just want to throw a kit together.

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Agree, I prime resin and PE, but not plastic.

Can't help you with acrylics. I use enamels (MM) and lacquers (Alclad, Mr Color) because I can get very subtle shading with them. Could never get anything like that with acrylics. But this is me, I can't get Future to work as a gloss coat, either.

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I use MM Acryl paints 98% of the time. Otherwise I'll use Life Color for the colors not available in MM Acryl (such as Flat US Sea Blue or Aotake).

I don't bother priming plastic or resin unless I'm painting a bare metal finish or colors like yellow and red. I do thoroughly wash resin with Simple Green before painting. I'll also wash any plastic that feels "greasy".

I never pre-shade, as I think it looks phony (just my opinion!). All my weathering is post-shading and/or panel-line washing (or even just using a pencil on panel lines).

Here's a P-47N I did with MM Acryl silver over a base coat of flat white. You can see it's quite shiny. Too shiny, in fact, for a real aircraft, so I toned it down with a semi-gloss coat. Then I used a pencil in the panel lines and scrubbed the lines with stiff paint brush to smudge things a bit.

Simple.

DSC07429_zpsa3040510.jpg

DSC07447_zpsa30de00f.jpg

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1. Prime everything you paint. No exceptions. Yeah, it's an extra step, but it's an important one if you want good paint work. Remember surface prep too. Parts will get finger oils and other contaminants on them while working on the pieces, so before priming you should wipe them down with some alcohol. If you insist on not priming, and I don't know why you wouldn't, this is extremely important if you have to mask.

2. I don't pre-shade. I don't like the look of it mostly for the reasons stated here: http://doogsmodels.com/2015/09/19/the-problem-with-panel-line-shading/

However, I wouldn't waste time building something on the side, or spending money on another kit to practice. Every kit you build is practice. If you're starting out you're not going to be satisfied with what you built today 2 years from now. You will grow and learn and get better, so keep that in mind with each build. Don't become complacent with where you are in the hobby. Continue to push yourself to get better and try new things. The cost of failure in modeling is minuscule, even if you completely botch a kit you've learned a lesson or two. You're going to screw up, and eventually you'll have to trash a kit, but in the end it's no biggie. The biggest thing is to not be afraid of screwing up. Try stuff. You'll eventually master them, or you'll find something that works better for you.

And one last tip: Avoid MM Acryl...it's the worst modeling paint on the planet, and it will cause you a lot of grief and headaches.

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1. Prime everything you paint. No exceptions. Yeah, it's an extra step, but it's an important one if you want good paint work. Remember surface prep too. Parts will get finger oils and other contaminants on them while working on the pieces, so before priming you should wipe them down with some alcohol. If you insist on not priming, and I don't know why you wouldn't, this is extremely important if you have to mask.

However, I wouldn't waste time building something on the side, or spending money on another kit to practice. Every kit you build is practice. If you're starting out you're not going to be satisfied with what you built today 2 years from now. You will grow and learn and get better, so keep that in mind with each build. Don't become complacent with where you are in the hobby. Continue to push yourself to get better and try new things. The cost of failure in modeling is minuscule, even if you completely botch a kit you've learned a lesson or two. You're going to screw up, and eventually you'll have to trash a kit, but in the end it's no biggie. The biggest thing is to not be afraid of screwing up. Try stuff. You'll eventually master them, or you'll find something that works better for you.

Amen to those words of wisdom!!!

Bob

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